Camelot unveils Air Miles tie-up
Camelot has linked with Air Miles in an attempt to encourage high earners to sign up for the National Lottery Subscriptions scheme.
The partners will e-mail 400,000 Air Miles collectors to promote the tie-up, concentrating on those who spend the most time on holiday. The Air Miles database holds 6 million names. An Internet advertising campaign will run for two weeks from November 11.
Subscriptions can be for 26, 52 or 104 weeks, paid for by cheque or direct debit. Consumers who spend &£2 a week will get 40 Air Miles, rising to 250 for those spending &£6 a week. Until December 24, subscribers will also benefit from the “Great Air Miles Giveaway” promotion, which means they get double points.
The scheme has met with a mixed response from retailers, who are worried about losing customers and revenue if too many players buy direct from Camelot.
Roy Turnbull, a past president of the National Federation of Newsagents and a member of Camelot’s advisory retail forum, says: “I’d have to view this with caution. There’s only a certain amount of money in the pot.” A trial promotion with Tesco’s Clubcard loyalty scheme met with a similar response from newsagents (MW August 29).
But a spokeswoman for Camelot says the scheme targets “infrequent or non-users”, including those who do not buy tickets because of lack of time, dislike of queuing or the fact that they are on holiday, and so should not affect retailers’ sales.
